From Mashable.Com

With news organizations beginning to create special positions to manage the use of social media tools, such as the recently appointed social editor at The New York Times, journalism schools are starting to recognize the need to integrate social media into their curricula. That doesn’t mean having a class on Facebook () or Twitter (), which many college students already know inside and out, but instead means that professors are delving into how these tools can be applied to enrich the craft of reporting and producing the news and ultimately telling the story in the best possible way.

And though many professors are still experimenting and learning how these tools can be used, below are the 10 ways journalism schools are currently teaching students to use social media. Please share in the comments others that you have found to be important and effective as well.

It’s time for a new compact between Journalists and the Public.
 
We need you.  Your work is vital to the well-being of us all.  I can’t imagine a functional democracy without the passionate commitment journalists make to digging deeply into what matters.  It is a sacred trust and I thank you for doing it on our behalf.

If I – and others –believe that, why do so many of us seem hostile to the press?  Because we feel betrayed.  Where were you when we needed you?  Where were your warnings about the state of the economy?  About the lies of weapons of mass destruction?  About the many stories closer to home that affect our lives and well-being?  Did you miss the clues yourself? Did you know and not help us hear your messages?  How could you let us down? 

If you don’t feel trusted, please understand that it is in part the corporation behind you that many of us don’t trust.  When my primary identity shifted from citizen to consumer something died.  You are not your corporation.  I don’t need them.  I need you.

If you’re frustrated or angry about the state of the media, you are not alone.  We are all frustrated.  It’s time to take that energy and refocus it together. 

John Nicholls and Robert W. McChesney published a rather fascinating article in The Nation this week, suggesting that the answer to the newspaper death spiral is a government bailout - a combination of free postage, subsidies, and other means to economically support media and reporting in the US.  I'm not sure how I personally feel about this idea- it grates against all my instincts, yet it's at least a proposal that I can believe would be more likely to have a positive effect than most.

On another note - from the local Wisconsin viewpoint, two of our state local papers are cutting Mondays out of their publication schedule. And so journalism continues to die by a thousand papercuts.

I saw this interesting post on TechCrunch this morning - What do you think?

This is a gloves-off, newsroom style conversation from a JTM discussion group this week. The honesty is refreshing, the conversation is necessary and hopefully continues.

Jay 

            Maurreen Skowran             

              Mar 15, 2:53 am                     

1. My perception is that news organizations are relatively blind to

journalism as conversation, that they make little or weak use of the

interactivity available to them. They might offer it on their site to

other people, but it's not very meaningful.

What do you think? Do you know of notable exceptions?

2. If there were a program, a college degree or what-have-you, other

than or more-specific than JTM, to train people in journalism as

conversation -- designed to move the conversation forward, toward

making connections in general and toward solutions in particular --

what nonmedia compenents might it include?

Maybe stuff along the lines of interpersonal communications and

applied sociology?